How much do you write online these days and do you use an AI grammar checker?
If you’re reading this article, you probably write quite a lot.
Emails in Outlook. Blog posts in WordPress or Medium. Articles in Google Docs….
If we’re writing on a computer, then it’s probably appearing on the web in some form — or at least on an app that’s connected to the internet.
Online AI (artificial intelligence) draws from incredible resources to power all kinds of applications… including AI grammar checker software.
These checkers check the text you type and subtly pointing out potential grammar mistakes — along with error correction options.
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Best Grammar Checker
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Also Great
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$30 per month
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$79 per year
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Contents
The AI Behind Grammar Checkers
Online AI describes how software uses techniques to teach itself (machine learning) through repeated uses and draw on vast sources of data about details.
This approach works particularly well with language and grammar.
Text is easy to break down into letters, words, and sentences for AIs to study, and there’s a lot of text online, so machine learning has a lot of data to work with.
Add in grammar rules about specific typos, sentence structure, verb tenses, etc., and it becomes easier for an AI to become a master at spotting problematic grammar.
With even more training, this AI software can use its immense experience to suggest potential replacements that it has seen work better in similar situations.
Another advantage?
Grammar AIs are well-equipped to adapt to any changing rules for grammar, or new grammar errors that crop up when lexicon is added or other things change.
As they’re kept up to date, these tools are ready for most writer’s ongoing grammar correction needs.
It’s a growing area too. Grammarly, a popular AI powered grammar checker, completed a $90 million funding round in 2019.
Grammar Checkers vs. Spellcheck Software
You may be wondering, “Why don’t I just use the spellcheck that comes with my text editor?”
Apps like Microsoft Word include spellcheck tools that can analyze text for grammar or spelling errors. However, they aren’t fuelled by online AI and are often limited in what they can check and the suggestions they offer.
An online AI proofreading app, by its nature, can continue to review a vast amount of situations and potential grammatical errors instead of depending on the specific rules that programmers coded in.
They can also automatically update consistently throughout their lives, while most spellcheckers only update when a new version of the software is released (if at all). This makes online AI superior for grammar checks, in particular.
Thanks to natural language processing, an AI powered grammar checker can typically offer recommendations and fixed in context depending your audience, tone of voice and the type of writing in question.
They can also analyse individual characters, words and your document or manuscript as a whole.
In the future, you can expect differences between online AI checkers and spellcheck to fade as spellchecking tools adopt more and more of the real-time advantages that AI software offers.
How to Use an AI Grammar Checker as a Writing Assistant
If you want to use an AI grammar checker as a writing assistant, here’s what we suggest:
- Write up a first draft in your writing app of choice
- Check it for typos and common spelling mistakes as normal
- Paste your draft into an AI grammar checker for before hitting publish or sending to a client
I recommend pasting from one app to another as sometimes changing the look and feel of a document can help with the self-editing process. That said, if you’re in a rush, an extension works just fine.
4 Best AI Grammar Checker Options Today
If you’re trying to find a smart grammar checker that’s right for your particular line of work or classes, it’s challenging to narrow down all the available apps for writers.
We’re making your life a little easier by taking a look at some of the top AI grammar check software available today and what they offer.
1. Grammarly
Grammarly is probably one of the most popular AI grammar checkers and claims over 15 million users.
It has a slick web and desktop apps with a great Google Chrome, Android, iPhone and iOS apps and extensions that can check everything you write online.
The sheer amount of things even the free version of Grammarly can check is impressive, from spelling and phrasing suggestions to analyzing your tone and the type of writing that you’re doing. It’ll give you a detailed analysis about common grammar mistakes and suggest fixes.
However, Grammarly’s overlay, while minimalistic, can sometimes interfere with web forms — and the app can’t help you at all if you’re working in something like Word.
2. ProWritingAid
It’s right in the name — this is a serious grammar checking tool designed for professionals that need a lot of help checking lots of text for grammar, style issues, and writing suggestions.
It’s made for particularly large projects and people who have high writing output or edit a lot of text at their job.
There is a core app you can download, but ProWritingAid integrates with more platforms than any other option, including Word, Chrome, Apple apps, Firefox, Gmail, and more.
However, the caveat is the cost:
Unlike other options, you have to pay for ProWritingAid, and the cost can be expensive for a student or freelancer.
3. Ginger
Ginger’s free grammar checker starts with a Web app that asks you to “Ginger It!” by pasting in a section of text so the app can look for anything potentially awry.
You don’t have to download anything, which makes it really handy for those who want to paste in a quick email or essay paragraph to make sure they aren’t missing anything.
Otherwise, Ginger’s usefulness is a bit limited, although it does offer handy browser extensions for Chrome in Google‘s app store. Like all the best checkers, Ginger does offer suggestions for replacements and advice about what went wrong.
4. Google Docs
Yes, Google Docs gets an AI English grammar checker thanks to an update from a couple of years ago.
It offers default grammar checks throughout the G Suite using Google’s language translation software (if AI can translate between language, it’s by default pretty good at grammar, too).
The spellcheck is red, the grammar check is green, and Google can offer suggestions about what replacements you might want.
It’s a bit more limited than other checkers and applies only to Google’s own tools, but you don’t need to download anything and you can learn how to use the tool in seconds, which is handy.
The Final Word on AI Grammar Checker Software
Today’s AI and machine learning can be immensely powerful.
When that software is turned toward simple tasks like grammar checking, the results can help anyone writing online.
Paying for a solution allows you to get a checker that works across apps and editors including Word. If budget is a concern, a simple Chrome extension will work just fine for most online work.
The bottom line:
If you aren’t using a grammar checker yet, today’s AI tools can help you save time and avoid mistakes. Plus, they’re very unobtrusive and act a lot like more advanced spellcheckers with better capabilities.
That said, at Become a Writer Today, we always recommend working with a proofreader (i.e. real people) for longer pieces of work, like a book.
Try one from our suggested list and see for yourself!
Essay Writing Resources
The Difference Between Grammar and Punctuation
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